v2026.11.16174
Reference / Input deck / model / boundary conditions / interface

interface

type: interface

Overset interface: this mesh overlaps another and takes its fringe values from it.

zonesrequired
list of zone ids·required

Mesh zone ids this boundary condition applies to.

Used insliding_embedded_sphere
Guidance: Choosing boundary conditions →
kind
not set by default

How this interface joins its two sides.

Options
ValueWhat it does
overset

This mesh overlaps another and takes the values in its fringe from the mesh beneath it.

sliding

Two meshes meet on a shared surface of revolution with non-matching faces and exchange a conservative flux across it.

periodic

Two boundaries of the same mesh are treated as one surface, related by a rotation or a translation.

Used inoverset_acoustics
interpolation methodoverset only
default least-squares

How the donor value is built once the containing donor cell is known.

Options
ValueWhat it doesWhen to use it
nearest cell

Takes the containing donor cell's value directly: a piecewise-constant, first-order transfer.

inverse distance

A distance-weighted average over the containing donor cell and its neighbours.

green-gauss

A Green-Gauss linear reconstruction about the donor cell centre, evaluated at the receptor point.

least-squares default

A least-squares linear reconstruction about the donor cell centre, evaluated at the receptor point.

On a moving interface, where only it and green-gauss reproduce a field with a gradient at the receptor point.

Used intraintunnel
Guidance: Overset meshes →
additional active layersadvancedoverset only
int·default 0·>= 0

Number of additional active cell layers near the blanking boundary

Used inoverset_acoustics
Guidance: Overset meshes →
blank enclosed cellsoverset only
bool·default True

Also blank the background cells the hole encloses but no overset cell covers: the ones inside this mesh's own solid bodies

Guidance: Overset meshes →
create overset halosoverset only
bool·default True

Search for overset donors at the halo cell centre rather than at the boundary face centre, on the background-to-overset direction. The halo centre is the interior cell centre mirrored across the face, and that is where the solver uses the value: the interface flux extrapolates the halo from it and the boundary gradient averages it with the interior cell. Sampling at the face centre instead puts the value half a cell from where it is used; on the eulervortex static overset case that leaves a 416 Pa pressure overshoot at the interface, against 4 Pa with halo centres -- what the conformal mesh gives. A uniform free stream cannot show the difference. The solver applies one value to the whole model, so every overset interface on a model gives the same one.

Used intraintunnel
moving mesh halo layersadvancedoverset only
int·default 0·>= 0

Halo fringe layers around the hole when the overset mesh moves (0 = treat every blanked cell as a halo; N > 0 is sufficient when the hole is re-cut every real time step)

Guidance: Overset meshes →
areasliding only
default conservative

Which area vector each side's segments use. The two options are identical on a planar interface and for matching meshes.

Options
ValueWhat it does
conservative default

Both sides use the mean of the two parent area maps, so the interface conserves to round-off; the per-face closure error is first order in cell width.

free stream

Each side uses its own parent area map, so closure and free-stream preservation are exact; the conservation deficit is second order.

Used inoverset_acoustics
Guidance: Choosing boundary conditions →
fluxsliding only
default segment

Where the interface's numerical flux is evaluated.

Options
ValueWhat it does
segment default

One flux per intersection polygon, applied with a shared area vector to the cell on each side, so the two sides cancel exactly and the interface conserves.

parent

One flux per parent face, against the area-weighted average of that face's donors; quieter as cells pass one another, but not conservative.

Guidance: Choosing boundary conditions →
segment capacity factoradvancedsliding only
int·default 8·>= 1

Segment storage reserved per interface face. The supermesh is rebuilt every real time step and its segment count varies with the rotation angle, so storage is reserved once at this multiple of the local interface face count. Setup sweeps a full revolution and aborts with the factor actually needed if this is too small.

Used inoverset_acoustics
sliver toleranceadvancedsliding only
float·default 1e-10·>= 0.0

Overlaps smaller than this fraction of the smaller parent face are discarded. Slivers carry no flux worth having but do cost a segment slot each.

closure toleranceadvancedsliding only
float·default 0.01·>= 0.0

Largest fraction of a face's area that may be left uncovered by its segments before setup aborts. A real gap between the two sides -- mismatched radii, a partial annulus, a wrong axis -- shows up here, and would otherwise be a silent leak.